Nothing But Ashes Remain
by stormrider7
Summary: Music is my life. With the power of my guitar, I can make it everyone else's life too. My name is Ember McLean, and this is my story.
1. Chapter 1

Nothing But Ashes Remain

I struck the last chord on my electric guitar as sparks flew out of the floor behind me. The lights dimmed and I held the position: head down, arm raised. The stage went completely black and I walked offstage, taking care not to trip on my silver boots in the thin layer of smoke layering the floor.

My manager was waiting backstage with a grin plastered over his tan face. "Great job, Emily. The tickets to your next concert are already sold out."

"That's awesome!" I smiled back at him then left for my dressing rooms.

I looked up at the sign on the door: _Emily McLean_. My name. My identity. I opened the door and entered the airy room. Carefully, I put my beloved guitar on a stand in the corner, and then sat down on the black stool in front of my mirror. I observed my appearance. The person in the mirror had pale skin, slightly flushed from the excitement of singing live in front of hundreds of fans. Her eyes were hazel, containing more green than brown. Hair dyed a bright shade of turquoise-blue hung to her waist. The colour matched the flame designs on her purple guitar.

For once, I decided to leave in the clothes I wore for my performance. They weren't very over-the-top, and I liked them. It was my favourite trademark costume of a black, midriff top with one shoulder, black pants, a single, long black glove, sliver boots and a matching silver belt. I just tied back my blue hair, put my guitar in its case and left, flanked by two tall, muscled bodyguards.

At home, the penthouse I was staying in, I flopped onto my bed, exhausted. I lay there for a while before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

When I woke an hour later, the first thing I noticed was that my apartment was warm. Very warm. No, _hot._ My nostrils flared as they picked up the scent of smoke.

Hold on. _Smoke?_

My hazel eyes snapped open. Cautiously, I stepped out of my room and peeped around the corner into the kitchen.

It was on fire.

I screamed loudly and yanked the fire alarm on the wall frantically, over and over again. A loud siren began whining.

I stood there, wondering what to do, when a sheet of paper lying on the kitchen table caught my eye. I stepped timidly towards it, snatched it off the table and ran back to my room. There I sat back down on my bed and read it.

Emily

_I hope this is repayment enough for hurting me so bad last September_

_Remember – if I can't have you, no one can_

_It was nice knowing you_

_George_

I blinked. _George?_ I had dumped him (to put it frankly) last September – three months ago, mind – and he started this fire as payback? I always knew he was over-protective and VERY paranoid, but not to the point of insanity. I never thought he was capable of killing.

But then I remembered those last weeks we were going out. He would come to my penthouse fuming about how his therapist was saying he was on the edge of insanity, and one bad thing could change his mental status.

I glanced at my bedroom doorway to see flames racing down the hallway, eating up the rug. My eyes filled with unshed tears as I whispered, "George." My vision went black and I dropped to the floor in a dead faint.

* * *

I was floating…rising. I opened my eyes once more and screamed. I was hovering near the roof of my bedroom. I chanced a glance down and saw my room – or what remained of my room. It was filled with the blackened, charred remains of my furniture and a pile of black ashes lay on the burnt floorboards beneath me.

Carefully, I lowered myself until I was standing on the ground. I glanced at the mirror that was still whole and hanging; the flames had not reached that high up the wall. My reflection was mostly the same as usual, but with a few minor changes. My normally pale pink skin was now a ghostly white, my normally peaceful, hazel eyes were now a bright, glowing green and my hair…

…a large blue flame had replaced my blue ponytail. The front was still the same, but from the hair tie onwards my blue locks had changed to fire.

My guitar had undergone a transformation too. On the front was a knob with different pictures around it, including a heart, a music note, a skull, a spiral and a wave. On the back, the word 'Ember' was written in the same turquoise-blue as my hair and the decorations on the front.

The word had a certain ring to it. I realized that maybe I should go by the name – considering my hair and the way that I died, and such.

I realized with a jolt that I had died in the fire. I looked down and saw that I was standing in the pile of ashes. I screamed yet again and stomped my feet, trying to get rid of every trace of my past.

A loud ringing filled the house and I noticed it was the phone. _The phone still works? _I silently asked myself in wonder and went to answer it. As I lay my hand down on the receiver, it passed right through. I tried again and managed to grab it and hold it to my ear without any mishaps.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Emily?" It was a voice I recognized – the voice of my manager. "Are you alright? I hear there was a fire in your building."

I gulped and replied, "Yeah, I'm fine." Yeah, the lie of the millennium, but would he believe I was dead? More likely he would believe I was in serious need of some therapy.

"OK. Well, I'll see you in a couple of hours for your concert. Bye." He hung up.

I replaced the receiver on the phone, remembering my rock concert. _Should I go? All of my songs don't really fit my mood…_ I thought.

I smiled. "Time to write some music."

* * *

A few hours later I was once again onstage, waiting for the spotlight to shine. My transformed guitar was in my hands, ready to rock. I had slipped onstage with no one noticing, what with backstage being so dark and all. I was grateful for that small pleasure – it would have been hard enough to explain my white skin and glowing green eyes, let alone my hair.

A bright, white light suddenly shone into my eyes and I began to sing, backing up my voice with my powerful electric guitar.

_"Yeah, oh_

_It was, it was September_

_Wind blows, the dead leaves fall_

_To you I did surrender_

_Two weeks you didn't call_

_Your life goes on without me_

_My life a losing game_

_But you should, you should not doubt me_

_You will remember my name_

_Oh Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Oh Ember, so warm and tender_

_You will remember my name_

_You heart, your heart abandoned_

_You're wrong, now bear the shame_

_Like bad dreams in cold December_

_Nothing but ashes remain_

_Oh Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Oh Ember, so warm and tender_

_You will remember my name_

_Oh, oh, oh_

_Oh Ember, you will remember_

_Ember, one thing remains_

_Oh Ember, so warm and tender_

_You will remember my name_

_Yeah, you will remember my name."_

I bowed deeply to the screams and applause that was radiating from the crowd and allowed myself to sink through the floor. With my guitar still in hand, I flew out of the ground outside and spiralled up into the air.

I glanced once again at the knob on my guitar. The symbols interested me, and I itched to find out what they were for. But for now, I was content. After all, I had the whole of my afterlife to learn all I could.

**So, what do you think? Should I do another one about Desiree, and maybe Pariah Dark? Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**OK, it was a bit confusing trying to decide what to do next because some people wanted me to continue with Ember, and some people wanted me to continue with Desiree and/or other ghosts. So I've replied to some reviews (you know who you are) and I've decided to do _Fanning the Flames_ from Ember's point of view. If you like it, I might do _Pirate Radio,_ then maybe my own episode… oh yeah, and it won't be exactly the same and it won't be word for word because my memory isn't that good, but I'll give it my best shot. **

Some thirty or so years later, I travelled the Ghost Zone with my beloved purple guitar strapped across my back. I had mastered the use of the powers that came with becoming a ghost. I had also mastered the use of the instrument, practicing with the different dials on the face of my guitar for a very long time and coming to recognize what the different symbols were and what they were for.

I had a certain fondness for the spiral next to the knob – when my guitar was switched onto that particular symbol, I was in control of my audience. I could make them do what I wanted, when I wanted, how I wanted. I had always envied power like that, and now I had it strapped across my back.

But I couldn't spread that power. I, like most ghosts, was stuck inside the Ghost Zone with no way out. Yet again, I was on another of my fruitless attempts to search for the legendary door that opened to Earth.

I was just drifting aimlessly though empty space, around hovering doors, when a black, white and pink blur sped past me. I whipped my head around to stare at the battle that was taking place. A boy, fourteen by the looks of it and wearing a black jumpsuit with a white collar, belt, gloves and boots, was battling that big, blonde ghost in the pink-striped pyjamas, Klomper or whatever his name was. I noticed a hovering spacecraft-type machine nearby with its occupants also looking on in interest, so I ducked behind a floating door to watch on unnoticed.

"Get OFF me, Klemper!" cried the boy.

Klemper showed off his buckteeth in his stupid grin. "Will you be my friend?"

The boy yelled in frustration and, with an almighty heave, managed to throw the big ghost off him. Before Klemper could corner him once more, he phased through the wall of the craft. "Come on guys, let's get out of here."

Intangible, I followed them, curiosity overtaking my better judgement. Unless I was mistaken, two of the occupants of the craft were human. They sped up, and so did I. It wasn't long before we reached a hexagonal, iron door.

They stopped short before the door and a light beside it shone green. The iron doors slid open, admitting the craft. As the doors began to close again, I swooped down, clearing the doors just in time.

I looked around at my surroundings. I seemed to be in some sort of laboratory, full of high-tech weaponry. As soon as I alighted on the floor, a red siren started blaring and was screeching a warning: "_Ghost Alert! Ghost Alert!_"

As quickly as I could, I phased through the roof and left the large house.

Hovering in front of the multi-story building, I noticed a large billboard on top stating the words 'Fenton Works'.

I smiled to myself with satisfaction. I had made it back to Earth. Let the domination begin.

* * *

Weeks later I had my plan devised, perfect to the last tiny detail. I had learned from a friend in the Ghost Zone how to make simulated ghosts, and the three I created myself were to be the rest of my band: the guitarists and the drummer.

I had overseen the creation of my own mobile stage. It was equipped with all the electrical appliances we would need, like amps, speakers and microphones, and a huge black banner stretched across the top showing the word "Ember" in large, purple letters.

I had released my song, 'Remember', to the public only the day before yet I already maintained control over every kid in Amity Park. Everywhere I turned, teenagers were listening to my song on their MP3s. It was blaring out of their rooms on their stereos, their parents' voices yelling for them to turn it down barely audible. To my amusement, every single teenager was wearing a piece of clothing stating my logos or my face.

My first target was the school, Casper High.

I smiled to myself as the stage, and the truck driving it, pulled up in front of the large, cream-coloured building that was Casper High. 'Remember' was thumping through the speakers, drawing the teenagers from the school in a stampede. I appeared in a bloom of purple smoke, the colour of my powers. I had always loved dramatic effects. My band appeared behind me in the same fashion.

Grinning widely at the crowd of screaming fans before me, I yelled, "Hello Casper High! Are you ready to rock!"

I had begun to sing my song, to the immense delight of my audience, when a bald man with a huge potbelly pushed through the crowd with difficulty. When he couldn't get any further forwards, he lifted a megaphone to his mouth.

"Excuse me, freakishly-dressed teen idol!" he shouted. The rest of what he said was lost in the sound of my audience as I yelled back an insult and switched the dial on my guitar so that it faced the symbol of a spiral.

I slammed a chord, which hypnotized the teenagers to a whole new level. Their eyes suddenly glowed red as they turned as one to face the man. I egged them on with a glint in my eye.

The crowd was nearly on top of the man when a teenager swooped down to him. It was that same ghost-kid I had seen before, the one battling Klemper in the Ghost Zone. The boy turned himself and the man intangible, and flew him out of harm's way.

I was only vaguely interested. After all, it was only one old bag, wasn't it? Soon my domination would spread over the world until I was in control of everything. Then those adults would think twice when lecturing me on music.

And with that, I was gone. Everything that suggested I had been outside Casper High only seconds before had completely disappeared.

**What do you think? If I get more reviews, I might be tempted to update faster… hehehe :P**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, I felt like doing something productive these holidays, so I decided to update this fic for the first time in three and a half years! :D Missed me, guys? Well, here it is: enjoy!**

My fingers flashed through the darkness; pale, glowing blurs flying across the highly polished neck of my guitar as I fiddled around with a new riff I was working on. I was caught up in the sound of my own electric guitar when a sharp rapping on wood caught my attention.

"It's open!" I yelled out.

The door creaked open and a freckly face popped around the doorframe. "Miss Ember, I came to bring you good news. Take a look!" Timidly, the adolescent boy approached me, placed a stack of magazines on a nearby table and fled with a parting, "_I love you, Ember!"_

I smiled and picked up the first magazine. It featured me, smiling up from the glossy front page with the phrase _I rock_ splayed across the top. The one beneath it was the newest copy of _Music News_, also featuring me with an artistic backdrop of purple flames. The one underneath was a copy of _Chart_ with a close-up of my face and my name shining purple at the bottom. This continued on for the whole stack of magazines – each sporting my face and name. It was beautiful.

Putting my plan into action was so easy it was laughable. With a little hypnotic strumming here and there to the right audience, I'd managed to secure my own concert which would be broadcasted across the globe. With the whole world screaming my name, I'd be unstoppable!

Dropping the magazines back onto the table, I stood. I was due to appear at a music megastore to give out free tickets to my concert. Hey, why make the kids pay to listen to great music? It's not like I had to pay to _rent_ the joint I'd be performing in.

My fiery blue hair grew, circled me then died, and when it disappeared, I was gone.

* * *

The place was amazing. It was every rock star's dream – totally decked out with everything to do with me and full of screaming fans before I'd even arrived.

Well, might as well give them a show.

Smirking down at my audience from my vantage point, I phased back into the visible spectrum. Still smirking down at them, I reached behind me and pulled out handfuls of tickets. Throwing them into the crowd, I screamed, "_Tell me who you LOVE!"_

They complied, screaming my name in unison. "Ember! Ember!! _Ember!!"_

It was wonderful – my name being shouted by my adoring fans filled me with energy until I was almost bursting with it. The power glowed around me, and erupted through my hair in the form of a gigantic blue flame.

I'd never felt better.

A sharp whistle cut through to capture my attention, along with the crowds'. To my shock, the massive cardboard cut-out of myself had been vandalised with a red marker by the obnoxious teen hanging off it. The crowd gasped their horror.

"Hey, everybody, look!" shouted the impudent little brat. "It's Ember Mc_Lame!_"

The crowd's brief silence took its toll – the blue flame of my hair shrank back to normal size and I felt the power leave my body. "Oh, great, a critic," I grumbled. Raising my voice, I addressed the girl. "Maybe you'll like my new song better!" I cranked up my guitar a notch and was about to blast the girl right out of the building when I was hit in the stomach by a green, ectoplasmic ray.

As I cried out in pain and hit the wall behind me, I heard the owner of the ecto-ray call out, "Hey, do you take requests? How about _Beat It_?"

I groaned internally at the pun before jumping into the air to float on the same level as the ghost boy who'd shot me. Looking closely, I noticed that it was that same kid who'd inadvertently helped me escape from the Ghost Zone. Hey, what do you know?

Deciding to join in the pre-battle banter, I spat back, "How 'bout I just lay down a few power chords instead, Dipstick?"

I raised my arm and struck down on my guitar as the boy reached for the device he was carrying on his back – what was that, a soup thermos?! – to distract him whilst I left dramatically in a whirlwind of blue fire, invisibly baiting him to chase me onto the roof. Distantly, I heard the crowd cheer me on. My power levels cranked up a few notches.

Taking the bait, the boy appeared in front of me, the wind plucking at his silvery-white hair. "'Dipstick'! Ho, ho! Funny!" he muttered, before flying forward to attack me. I raised my arms to meet him and we each struggled for the upper hand as he continued, "Who writes your insults? The same hack who writes your songs?"

Ouch, _that_ hurt. Amateur.

I was about to retort when I heard it – the crowd, cheering my name. "_Ember! Ember! Ember!"_ I grinned as the power of their support fuelled me on. My fiery, blue hair grew to twice my size and I bore down on the ghost boy, forcing him down under my superior strength.

The boy faltered, then began to sweat, looking apprehensive. "Chanting…" he murmured to himself, "…makes her stronger!" He glanced up at me, finally understanding how I'd gotten the upper hand.

"You got _that_ right, baby pop," I taunted him. "And the more kids chanting" - with an almighty heave, I threw him over my hip to go flying across the roof – "the stronger I get!"

Crying out as he was thrown through the air, he hit a giant wooden cut-out of me with an '_oof'_, causing it to collapse. It balanced precariously on the edge of the building, threatening to slide off the roof to go crashing down into the crowd below.

As the ghost boy glanced at it worriedly, I flew right up to him. As he gasped at my sudden proximity, I taunted, "You think I'm strong now? Just wait until midnight, when my concert goes global and the _whole world's chanting my name_! Then you'll _all_ be my slaves!" On that last point, I slammed down a power chord which blasted the ghost boy backwards, landing inches from my fallen cut-out.

"_Get away from him_!"

To my shock, silver rings appeared around the ghost boy's waist, travelling across his body as they transformed him into a raven-haired, teenage boy. Huh, so _this_ is the famous halfa? Donny Phantom or something, wasn't it?

As I watched, the girl who had shouted out ran across the roof to stand protectively in front of the Phantom kid, brandishing another thermos at me (gosh, what was _with_ kids these days? Soup thermoses? Seriously?). It was that girl who had defaced that smaller cut-out of me, the brat. I smiled down at her fierce scowl, a plan formulating to prevent either of them from interfering with my global concert tonight.

"Aww, teen love. They say it never lasts!" I crooned, grinning at the two teenagers. "But nothing distracts teenagers more than hormones" – the girl raised her eyebrows at this seemingly random statement – "and I need to keep you busy for the next eight hours." Glancing down at my beautiful guitar, I switched the settings until the knob pointed to a picture of a tiny pink heart. "I have more than just music for you," I informed them. "Now that they're chanting my name, my music _can_ affect you!" Raising my voice to a shout, I struck down another power chord, aimed at the young teenagers. "_How about a love song_?"

The power of my guitar hit the girl, throwing her screaming through the air to land right on the very tip of my dangerously wobbling, fallen cut-out. Frightened out of her wits, she attempted to keep from looking down at the large drop inches from the edge of the painted wood. Looking pleadingly at the boy, he responded by turning to her with an intense, love struck gaze and a smile bigger than the moon.

As the girl looked baffled by her friend's abrupt change in attitude, I called out, "Well, I think I'll leave the new couple alone." I smiled and gave the two a small, parting wave. "Ciao, babies!" Laughing at my own ingenuity, I turned intangible to sink back through the roof to return to my adoring crowd inside.

I was greeted with more cheering. About to raise my voice to address them again, I was interrupted by the beating of helicopter blades and the shouting of an adult through a megaphone.

"Attention students!" the voice called. "By authority of the Emergency Mass Grounding Act, you are all under house arrest!"

To my annoyance, a team of adults dressed in dark suits burst their way through the large double doors and began hurling kids outside to be thrown unceremoniously into the backs of their vans.

"You will now be returned to your homes to await parental punishment," the man with the megaphone continued, "and as for your precious _Ember_" – this piqued my curiosity – "_she's going DOWN!_"

**A/N: Yeah, shorter than the chapters I normally write up for my fics, but give me a break, it's my first update for any of my stories in something like a year. Besides, I thought this was a pretty decent place to end. Not much of a cliffhanger (seeing as everyone's seen **_**Fanning the Flames**_**), but a good enough ending to make me feel accomplished. I hope you enjoyed it! I'll see if I can get another chapter up sometime in the next few weeks. Someone give me a reasonable deadline, I'll be more motivated to write! **


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